Faded Peony
by jaywy
Summary: Wang Yao is as average as average can get. But Arthur liked him anyway. Iggychu.


**A/N: Based off the song 400 Lux by Lorde. The image belongs to ぽけっと ****on pixiv. I do not own Hetalia Axis Powers.**

Arthur had been living in his neighbourhood for about twelve years out of sixteen. He was used to it being bright, bustling with colours and noise.

There was Alfred F. Jones opposite him, who ate donuts for breakfast and held cool parties. And there was Ivan Braginski, who invited all the neighbourhood kids to his gorgeous summer house on his birthday every year. There were a lot more people and they were all equally as interesting and fun.

Then there was Wang Yao.

He'd been hanging out with him since he moved here mainly because he lived right next door. And he was not like the other neighbours. He was undeniably average in every aspect.

But Arthur still stuck around him.

The rest of the neighbours thought Yao was sort of boring too but they included him all in their group activities anyway, simply because they felt it was mandatory since Yao had been living here since he was born.

And Arthur honestly preferred Wang Yao.

Bright, colourful chatter got tiring and hard to keep up with. When he hung out with Yao alone, the silence wasn't awkward. It was a nice kind of silence. And when they talked, they didn't stop talking for another three hours, even if all they talked about was really mundane.

He could do anything with Yao, like lie in their connecting front lawns drinking orange juice and making stupid puns for two hours straight. He could skip class and ride those ridiculous two-seated bike things with him all the way to the beach and drench themselves in dirty ocean water. He could do all these things with Yao and not feel the need to look cool or whatever.

They had also this unwritten policy, that one of them must stay sober at a party so he can drive the other drunk one home. And someone would always get drunk.

Except for this New Year's Eve.

"God, the booze is really bad," Arthur said as he put down the beer and sat down on one of the couches. "Alfred, what the fuck's up with this quality drop?"

"I don't know man. But can't you just drink it for one night?" Alfred asked as he devoured the rest of the unwanted beer.

Arthur rolled his eyes as he went off to look for Yao, who was sitting in the corner, trying not to be caught smoking indoors.

"Let's go. This party fucking sucks," Arthur says and snatches the cigarette away.

Yao pouted at the lack of a cigarette but stood up, grabbed his coat and followed Arthur out anyway.

"Where do you wanna go aru?" Yao asked. "Our parents think we're having a kid sleepover, you know."

"We were supposed to stay over but the beer fucking sucks and I don't exactly want to stay there for another eight more hours," Arthur snapped.

"Sorry, Mr Grumpy," Yao said in a sing-song voice. "Wanna steal one of Ludwig's cars or something? We can go downtown and get a burger."

Arthur blinked at Yao and smiled.

"That's a good idea."

And so they walked two houses away to the huge Beilschmidt residence and asked to borrow one of their numerous cars.

"I'm surprised they let us borrow a car honestly," Arthur said as he drove. "Probably because Gilbert wanted to look cool in front of me though."

"Yes, yes, rub it in that you're popular aru," Yao said, sitting next to him. "Why hang out with a mere peasant like me?"

"You're a cool peasant," Arthur said, laughing. "Oh, there's the drive-thru."

After getting ordering two happy meals and giggling over their stupid Hello Kitty toys, they stopped by a bridge and got out of the stuffy, overheated car.

"The air feels fantastic," Yao said, his gorgeous hair blowing in the wind. "But it's fucking cold."

"You swore!" Arthur grinned at Yao.

Yao covered his mouth for a second before laughing out loud.

"It's your fault aru!" he yelled as another strong wind blew past and he ran onto the bridge and sat on the metal railing on the side."Am I rebellious now? Can I join your fucking cool gang?"

Arthur snorted and walked over and held Yao's waist as he looked at the Asian.

"Yeah, you can join my cool gang," Arthur whispered, his breath reeking of mint.

"What's gonna happen to our burgers in the car?" Yao whispered back and they both laughed.

"God, this is so gay," Arthur said as Yao got off the railing and leaned against it instead.

"What's wrong with gay?"

"Nothing," Arthur murmured. "Gay is fantastic. I think I'm in love with you, Yao."

Yao's smile seemed to freeze as he heard those words. He stared at Arthur.

"I.." Yao zipped up his winter coat as cold wind blasted at his sides. "I..to put it simply aru, I like like you as well."

"God, you're so childish."

"Oh really? You blew spitballs at Natalya Arlovskaya two weeks ago during Literature."

"You saw that?" Arthur leaned closer towards Yao, their noses touching.

"You know, I thought my confession would be a lot more romantic than a simple "I like like you" and a conversation about spitballs," Yao mumbled.

"Yeah, me too," Arthur said as he kissed Yao gently.

It was a short kiss. But they could still feel the tingling sensation remain on their lips when Arthur pulled away. They could feel the fire in each other's eyes, that it was no ordinary hormonal teen romance.

Arthur felt the moment stand still before realising what he had actually done - confess to his best friend and come out of the closet. And his best friend liked him back.

"Oh God!" he took a step back, covering his face with his scarf. "I didn't mean to ever tell you. Or come out."

Yao felt his heart crack a little.

"But..it's okay, right?" Yao asked nervously. "Our families don't mind..and.."

Arthur looked up and Yao saw that he was smiling widely.

"Okay? It's beautiful!" Arthur picked up Yao and twirled him around, ignoring his yelps.

"I'm not a girl!" Yao complained when Arthur put him down.

"And you're better than any girl I've met," the Briton said.

"Ha! How cheesy can you get aru?"

"Very," Arthur replied. "How about when I ask you out to prom next year, I get you one thousand roses forming the word 'prom?'"

"Hell no."

"Hell yes."

And in the end, they walked home together after dropping the car off at Ludwig's, almost like any other day.

This time, their hands were intertwined.

_fin_


End file.
